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Reviews tagging 'Grief'
The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery
10 reviews
kk_gotit_goinon's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Dementia, and Grief
Minor: Self harm
bonsai_delores's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Animal death and Grief
Moderate: Suicide, Terminal illness, Dementia, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
mlynch133's review
3.25
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Suicide, Excrement, and Vomit
sapphic_in_the_stacks's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book after it was recommended to me by my tattoo artist. She said that it was a narrative nonfiction that read like a fiction book, and I think it lived up to that description! The narrative was well paced, and I never felt bored or like I was just waiting for the next thing to happen. The factual information was written in a way that felt like you were learning alongside the author, rather than being dictated to, which made for a much smoother read in my opinion. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this read.
*Disclaimer: There were a few instances of insensitive, outdated, or challenged language. I will include censored versions of the words I picked up below tagged as "spoilers" for anyone who would like to know or potentially avoid this word usage. Topics included language used to refer to Autistic individuals, and words derived from language used to refer to Romani people.
Graphic: Animal death and Grief
Moderate: Chronic illness, Suicide, and Terminal illness
Minor: Drug use and Vomit
purplepenning's review against another edition
3.0
The author is a talented memoirist and travel/nature writer and is clearly having a love affair of sorts with octopuses. However, although much of the book personalizes and attempts to empathize with these incredibly intelligent octopuses (which the author literally calls "inmates" when in aquariums — definitely a tone), there seems to be a sharp limit to the implications considered. For example, they get bored and enjoy interacting with puzzles and humans, but it's okay to leave a young octopus in a plain, dark, boring, solitary barrel for weeks (months?) — and then wonder about her behavioral issues? Similarly, is the end of life "dementia" they experience really inevitable or is a life in captivity and on display contributing to it (and what a flippantly brutal comment about how we "take humans with dementia 'off display'" and hide them away so it's probably okay to do that with octopuses too!)? Octopus lives are short, so grief is probably inevitable while studying them and becoming attached, but the tragic outcomes for the octopus inmates here don't seem inevitable. And while there is genuine grief in those moments, the overall tone is blithely upbeat.
The author struggled, due to an ear condition, to deep dive on her forays to see octopuses in the wild. She seems to have similarly struggled to deep dive in her examinations of their lives in captivity. Overall, it's an interesting, informative, touching observation of the lives of captive octopuses but it's not a satisfyingly full exploration of those lives or their potentials.
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Dementia, Grief, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Sexism and Sexual content
kathleencoughlin's review against another edition
3.0
Moderate: Animal death and Grief
Minor: Ableism, Chronic illness, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Blood
parkyparkpark's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Animal death and Grief
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Suicide
Minor: Death of parent
mexigingerale's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Moderate: Suicide and Grief
Minor: Suicide attempt
kayesomething's review against another edition
1.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Moderate: Chronic illness, Self harm, Suicide, and Medical content
Minor: Grief
isabelmabel49's review against another edition
Moderate: Animal death, Self harm, Suicide, and Medical content
Minor: Grief